Air squeegee



Patented July 1 4 1942 j Eas ma App icauoiirmie 17,

po'ra riof New Jersey i. ,i I (01.1540) T-he present invention relates mair'squeegees,

and particularly toanxair squeegee through which a web-leaving a liquid treating bath-"may be jpassed to have the excessmoisture effectively removed from bothsurfacesthere'of prior-"to its passage intoadryers 'li'he present invention is particularly" adapted VII-Q? use in :conjunction -with motion picture film treating apparatus, and ior removing theexcess treating liquidfrom the surfaces of the film-after treatment-before it is submittedto' thedrying operation Howeverpitispointed out, andwi'll be readily understood; that the-same is not lirh itedwtoiuse with motionipicture-f lm; but can be 1 used to removeex'cess moisture from 'the surfaces of avcontinuous web'xof any' material, and after treatmenttwheresuch web is; passed through a liquid so as to accumulate an excess on'its s'ur-g faces which must beiremoved; e Ajl fifiqufie ecs of i one :type or another arecom mon ly used for the purpose of removing'jexcess liquid trom the surfacesof a web which has been treated withia' liquid; The known" type of"air Squeegees, however, use the eitpos'edj type of air nozzlexfor causing the "impingementof "air onto A the web, and which "type 'of air squeegee depends upon the nozzle beingdirected at an angle to the approaching web in orderthat the air impinging on the websurfaces willremovetheliquid there;

from.;,It :has been found that air Squeegees of thefltype using exposednozzlesare very noisy and wasteful or air, and alsothat when the webis moved at relatively high speed several air nozzles or jets of air are-requiredto 'effectively remove the excess liquid {from the surfaces thereof.

it Therefore; one-gobject of the presentinvention is to provide an: air squeegee for the purpose of removing] exoessliquid from the Surfacesof a web passing 'therethrough', and which-"is more quiet anduses less airthan air squeegees of the known type; Another ,iobjectziis i to -zprovide an' air posed and neednot be directed fawn angleto the approaehingwehg And a further object is to pro -vide angair squeegee"whicheomprises asubstan tiallyi closed chamberainto which air'un'der pres;

combination withi the web passing 'therethrough control therelease "of air from thechamber so as toleffectively remove the" excess of liquid from the web surfacese,Andwetf'anothen object is to pro vide await-squeegee whichwill'remove the liquid from a film-effectively; at speeds off 'nove- 'ferred'ernbodiment.

merit as well as at low speeds.

pose mentioned which is: simple in construction .and'eifective in operation. j i t t Thnovel features that Ifconsiderjcharacteristic Qf' my invention areset forth with particularity in the appended 1 claims, The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and itsrhethod of operation, together with additional objects? and advantagesthereof, will best be understo'od fromthe following description of a specificembodiment wheni read in connection with the accompanying drawingin which, l

Fig. 1 is a sideelevation oi the air squeegee,

partly in section, and showir'igjhow the same 'ight be used in conjunction with a filmtreating a p ra us:

Fig. 2 is a gee, and showing .thepreferred embodiment of the same, and q l 'Fig l isja "section ,taken substantially on line 3+3 Fig; 2. r e V Fig; 43 1s aflongitudinal sectionon a reduced scale, a d showing theends of the chamber closed by flexible flaps instead of rollers as in the prej Likejreference characters refer to corresponding parts throughout the drawing;

Referring now to the drawing, and particularly to Figs. 2 and 3, my air squeegee comprises a chambenindicated generally as 9, which may include atop ill, a bottom H, and spaced side walls |2',"' whicli may be assembled from individual parts held together by screws l3, or which may bevfor'rned in any suitable manner. Theends of the chamber are completely open with the exception of the upper parts which are closed by plates I 4 fastenecl'to the ends of the top It by screws {5, and for the purpose hereinafter pointed out.v

*At each'end, andin .the'tlower half, of the "chamber! is 'rotatably journaled a roller 16 which extends substantially from side wall to side wall of the casing, leaving only enough clearance to permit rotationofthe roller; Rotatably mounted in thechamber 9 in vertical alignment with "rollers 16 are rollers I1,and which rollers are preferablyuof the same sizejas rollers l6. The

film F passes between'each pair of rollers in passing into and out of: the chamber, and to prevent marring or abrasion of the film the rollers are preferably made of rubber, but other suitable flexiblefmaterial may be used. The upper rollers I! have theiraxles lll extending through elon gatedslotsls in the side walls I! of the charm her so that they can move vertically relative to And anotherob jectv-is to provide an, air squeegee for, thepurlongitudinal section of the air squee-l the lower rollers I6 to accommodate for film splices.

The upper rollers I1 are normally spring pressed toward the lower rollers I6 by springs 20 located on opposite side walls I2 of the chamber 9. Either end of each spring 20 engages a grooved collar 2I fixed to the ends of the axles I8 extending beyond the termediate portion of each spring 20 is snapped under a stud 22 which extends from the side wall I2 and is located thereon in vertical relation to.

the axles I8 whereby the springs are tensioned when snapped thereunder. While any number of suitable means may be employed for normally" pressing the rollers I1 toward the rollers I63 the provides one which permits ready release of the pressure for threadingdescribed arrangement purposes or the like. By merely snapping the spring from under the stud 22, or oif' one of leased I, m

The rollers I6 and I 1 may be surmounted in the chamber'as to be in rolling contact, or if .it is de sired to reduce the pressure'on' the film at this poin't the slots I 8 may be solocated in. the side wallsth'a't the peripheries of the rollers will be slightly spaced when theaxles I8 are at thebottom of the slots, see Fig. 3,"'s,uch spacing of course never beingsubstantially-greater than the thickness'of the film F As will'be'noticed by referring to-"Fi'g. 2,*t he clearancebetween the rollers IB and the bo'ttom of the'chamben. and the clear-. ance between the rollers..l1 and the plate I 4 are made as slightas possible so. that air leakage around the rollers at these points is kept at a. minimum. Therefore, each pair of rollers I6 and I1 may be considered as. substantially closing each open end of the chamber 9..

Air under pressure is introduced into the chamber 9 intermediate each pair of rollers I6 and I1, and on each side of the film F, through air hoses 25 connected to a suitable air supply, not shown. Each of these air hoses 25, which may the groove collars 2I, the spring tension is re be flexible; are slipped over a nipple 26 threaded into a tapped opening21 in both the topand bottom of the chamber. To the inner face of both the top and bottomof the chamber 9 blocks 28 are fixed on opposite sides of the opening 21 by screws 29. Each of these blocks 28 has an inclined face 30 and these faces taper from..the sides of the opening 21 toward one another to form a nozzle which increases the velocity of the air entering the chamber and serves to distribute and direct it against one side of the film and across the entire width thereof. 28 extend completely across the chamber from side wall to side wall so that the entering air is changed from a jet to asheet extending across the width of the web whereby even distribution of air is achieved. The air may be directed'into the chamber from any point so long as it is inter- These blocks mediate each pair of rollers I6 and I1, and need not be directed downward 'onto one or both surfaces of the film. However, the disclosed arrangement has been found to give .very'satisfactory results, and has, therefore, been chosen to illustrate one manner of carrying out the invention. The blocks 28, it will be noted, are brought as close to rollers I6 and I1 as possible in order to cut down the air leakagefrom the chamber around the outside of theserollers. It will be readily appreciated thatthe present invention is not limited to the use of nozzles constructed as disclosed, but this type of nozzle has been found to be satisfactory,

and much more im- [thereof upon entering the chamber.

and has also been found to keep the portant, very cheap to manufacture as well as easy to assemble. As a matter of fact, the only real needfor the nozzle is to direct the incoming air below the tops of the rollers I1 to eliminate the escape of air around the tops thereof, so that suitable baffle plates, or a packing, could be used at these points and the nozzzle could be eliminated without defeating ther'esultor purpose of the "air squeegee.

The air which is introduced into the chamber 9 under pressure must escape at some point, and point of escape is between the rollers I6, I1, and the surfaces of the film F whereby the moisture on-the surfaces of the film is blown off I The amount of air which escapes around the outside of the rollers; I6 and I1 has been found to be negligible, rollers clean and dry. It might be pointed out that the chamber}? isof such size that the side walls I2 thereof are spaced; apart only a slightly greater distance-than the Width of the film so that air leakage from the chamber at the sides of the film is negligible. Since the'rollers I6 are quite light in weight and the pressure induced thereon by the springs 20 is only slight it has been found that the air will actually raise these rollers slightly to permit it to escape. It has also been found that theflexible rollers are actually deformed by rite air'pressure at the point of escape so asto provide a clearance between the rollers and the film through which the air in the chamber may escape with great velocity to blow the liquid from the film surfaces. It has been found that practically all of the liquid is blown off of the film before it enters the chamber 9 so that the escape of air at the exit of the chamber has no squeegeeing to do. The exit cannot be tightly closed, however. because the film must have an exit through which it can pass without being marred or abraded. Difi'erent film speeds can be readily accommodated by. increasing or decreasing the pressure of the air introduced into the air chamber 9.

While rollers have been disclosed as providing an entrance and exit to the air chamber, it is pointed out that thexinvention is not limited to the use thereof. Any suitable arrangement which would restrict the escape of air from the chamber to the film surfaces, and still permit passage of the film therethrough, would be suitable. Such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 4 as comprising a pair of flexible flaps 50 fixed to each end of .fed through the treating tank 35 in the direction indicated by the arrow, over rollers 36, from bythe squeegee will 'drop'back into said tank.

From thepabove description it will be appresqueegee is one which of air, and is more ciated .th'at my novel "'airl wastes the least amount width and thickness,

2,289,758, quiet than known squeegees of this type because noexposed nozzles areused. This air squeegee is not dependent upon any particularnozzle adjustment for its most effective operation, as is the prior art where the angle of exposed nozzles relative to the film path must be criticalfully aware that many modifications thereof are possible. My invention, therefora is not to be 3 chamber-is adapted to deform each of said flexible members at their point of contact with the web .and pass from the chamber between said members andweb with a high velocity to produc a wiping action of air. along the web.

4. An air squeegee comprising a chamber through whicha web otmaterial to be dried is-adaptedto,pass .said chamber including a botrestricted except in so far as is necessitated by the spirit of thezappended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An air squeegee comprising ,a chamber through which a web of material to be dried is adapted to pass,-means forming an entrance" and an exit in spaced relation in said chamber, and through which said web is directed into and out of said chamber, said entranceand exit each restricted in size whereby the width and length thereof are substantially equal to the width and thickness, respectively, of the web passing therethrough, and means for directing air under pressure into said chamber intermediate said entrance and exit, said entrance and exitforming meansbeing so constructed and arranged to yield under pressure inthe chamber to enlarge the entrance and exit whereby said air is adapted to pass out pf said chamber throughsaid entranceand exit'at high velocity and over the surfacesof the web passing there through to produce a wiping action of air along the web.

2. An air squeegee comprising a chamber through whicha web of material tobe dried is adapted to pass, means and anexit in opposite. and through which said web is directed into and out of said chamber, said entrance and exit each restricted in size wherebythe width and length thereof are substantially equal to the respectively, of the web passing therethrough, and means for directing air under pressure into said chamber intermediate said entrance and exit and on opposite sides of the web passing therethrough, said entrance and exit forming means being so con structed and arranged to yield under pressure in the chamber to enlarge the entrance and exit whereby said air is adapted to pass out of said chamberthrough said entrance and exit at high velocity and over the surfaces of the web passing therethrough to produce a wiping action of air along the web. r

3. An air squeegee comprising an open ended chamber through which a web of material to be dried is adapted to pass, a pair of flexible members in surface contact and located at and clos ing each end of said chamber, and between each pair of which said web passes in passing into and out of said chamber, and means for directing air under pressure into said chamber intermediate the endsof said chamber and onto opposite sides of the web passing therethrough, said flex ible members being so constructed and arranged that said air due to thepressure built up in the forming an entrance, walls of said chamber a high velocity. to

arranged that said am at their point.

tom and top in spaced relation,.side walls spaced substantially equal to thewidth of said web, and open ends in spaced relation, a pair of flexible rollers-in vertical alignment at each end of said chamber and closing the same. said rollers. of each'pair spacedfrompne anotheriso that their circumferences are separated'by an. amount substantially equal to the thickness of said web .to form an entrance and exit ,for said chamber through which said'web pass'esinto and out of said chamber, and means for directing air under pressure into said chamber intermediate each of said pairs of rollers andwon opposite sides. of

said web, said rollers being so constructed and air due to the pressure built isadapted to deform the rollof contact with the web and pass fromthe chamber between said rollers with, produce a wiping action of air up in the chamber along the web.

5. An air squeegee comprising a chamber through which a web of material to be dried is adapted to pass, said chamberincluding a bottom and top in spaced relation, side walls-spaced substantially equal to the width of said web, and open ends in spaced relation, a pair of flexible rollers in rolling contact and located at each open end of. said chamber to closethe same, and form an entrance and exit in said chamber through which said web passes in passing into and out of said chambexgand means for directincludinga nozzle in ing air under pressure into said chamber intermediate each pair of rollers and on opposite sides of the web passing therethrough, said means both the top and bottom ofsaid chamber, said rollers being-so constructed and arranged that said. air due to the pressure built up in the chamber isadapted to deform the rollers at their point of contact with the web and pass from the chamber between said rollers with ahigh velocity to produce a wiping action of air along the web. z

6. An air squeegee comprising a chamber through which a web of .material to be dried is adapted to pass, said chamber including a bottom and top in spaced relation, side Walls spaced substantially equal to the width of saidweb, and open ends in spaced relation, a pair of vertically aligned flexible rollers in rolling contact-and located at each open end of said chamber to close the same, and to form an entrance and exit through which said web is adapted'to pass in passing into and outofsaid chamber, and a-nozzle in both the top and'bottom of said-chamber intermediate each pair'of rollers and through which. air under pressure may be directed into said chamber, the upper roller of each pair mounted in said chamber to, move to and from its companion roller and arranged so that said through'which a web of material to bedried is adapted to pass, said chamber including a bot tomandtop in-spaced relation, side walls spaced substantiallyequal to the width'of said web, and.

open ends in spaced relation, fa pair of flexible. rollers mounted in rolling contact in sai'd'cham-- ber adjacent each openend thereof to close the same, and between which'said web is adapted to pass in passinginto' and out ofsaid chamber, meansfor'moun'ting-one roller of each pair in said chamber whereby ity is adapted to move to and.:from' its s' aid' companion roller, said means comprising'a'n-axle' for said movable roller both ends ofwhioh extend through elongated slots insaid:cham'ber',= means for normally moving said movable roller intdrolling fcontact withits com? panion rolleriand-a nozalefin 'both'the top and bottommof said 1 "chamber intermediate: each pair of rollersand' through" which air under"pressur'e may bedirectedinto said ch'amber',s aid air due to the pressure buntiup inthe Chamber adapted to.force,saidmovable roller from its companion rollerand pass from the chamber between said rollers and .the v w'eb'witha high'velocity to produce a wipin 'a'ction: of 'air along the web.

8; An 1 air :s'queegee comprising a' chamber through which--a-'web'- of mat'erial to be dried is adapted. to pass,:"saidc'ha'mbe'r including a bottom and top in "spaced relationjsidewalls spaced substantially equal to the width of said web, and openends in 'spacedf'relation, a pairof flexible rollers mountedinrolling contact in said chamber adjacent each openend thereof to close the chamber throughwhich a web to be dried is adapted'to pass, a pair of flexible rollers in rolling contact located at andclosing the ends of said chamber, and between-which -said'web is adapted to pass-in passing intoand-outflof said chamber, one ,roller of. eachp'air. mounted whereby it is adapted'to move relative: toj its companion roller for accommodating webs of different thickness,

and,means fordirecting, air under pressure into' said chamber andon' opposite sides of said web passing theret-hrough, said means including providingv both the topand bottom of said chamber with a threaded opening, a nipple threaded into each of said openings and to. each of which an air line may beattached, and ,a nozzle fixed to the inside ;f a'ce' oflb oth the 'topfand bottom of 10. An'air-squeegee comprising an open ended.

chamber through which a web to be dried is same,.and between which said-web is adapted to pass in passing'into and .out' ofHsaid-chamber;

means-for mounting {one roller of each pair in said chamber-whereby-it'is -adapted to move to and from its said'com'panion roller, said means.

comprising an axle for said'hmovable roller both ness, andancans for directing air under pressure adaptedto pasaja pair of flexible rollers in rolling contact locatedat andclosing the ends of said chamber; and1between which said web is adapted topass in passing into and out of said chamber, one-:roller' of each pair mounted whereby it is adapted to move relative to its companion roller for; accommodating webs of difierent thickinto :said chamber and on opposite sides of said webpassing therethrough, said means including ends of which extend through elongated slots in. i

said chamber; means for normally moving said movable roller-into rcllingcontact with its com panion roller, said means'inclu'ding a stud extending from each side 'of said-chamber between each of said movable rollers-and located out of. alignment with'the axles of said movable rollers,. and anelongated spring member having either end thereof engaging thats'ide of each axle removedfrom the companion roller of .the roller mounted thereon, each of said spring. members having its middle portion snapped under one of said studs, means for sealing said elongated slots against the passage of air from said champroviding boththe top and bottom of said chamber with. a threaded opening, a nipple threaded into. each of said-openings and to each of which an air line may be attached, and a nozzle fixed to the" inside face of both the top and bottom of saidqchamber. in alignment with the opening ber, and means'for directing air under pressure 7 into said chamber intermediate each pair of rollers and on opposite sides of said web, said air due to the pressure built up in the chamber adapted to force said movable roller from itscompanion roller and passfrom the chamber between said rollers and the web with a high velocity to produce a wiping action of air along the 'web.

9. An air squeegee comprising anopen ended thereinfor increasing the velocity of the air en- I teringsaid chamber and for directing said air against. opposite sides of said web passing therethrough, eachv of said nozzles including a pair of blocks having one inclined face, each of said blocks fastened to the top or bottom of said casing on opposite. sides of said opening therein and with their inclined faces tapering from opposite sides of said opening toward one another, said air dueto the pressure built up in thechamber adapted to-force said movableproller from its companion roller and pass from the chamber between said rollers and the web with a high velocity to produce awipingaction of air along the web.

- JOHN G. CAPSTAFF. 

